Drug-selling Littleton cop gets four years

Jeffery Johnston lived in Parker before arrest

A police officer will move from the comfortable confines of his Parker home to a federal prison cell for the next four years.

Littleton police officer Jeffery Allan Johnston, 46, was arrested in July after it was discovered that he was peddling Ecstasy out of his home. Investigators also found a small amount of cocaine, steroids, hundreds of prescription pills, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in the residence, along with nine firearms, including an AR-15 and two 12 gauge shotguns.

Johnston pleaded guilty in October to one count of being a prohibited person in possession of firearms and one count of possession with intent to distribute MDMA. According to the U.S. Department of Justice website, the penalties for a first-time offender caught distributing a Schedule I drug range from 5 years to 40 years in prison. U.S. Attorney John Walsh said he believes the four-year sentence fits the crime.

“As a police officer who violated the public's trust, a four-year federal prison sentence is just and appropriate given the circumstances,” Walsh said in a prepared statement. “The fact that Johnston was involved in trafficking illegal drugs while also serving as a law enforcement officer is particularly disturbing.”

Johnston also was ordered to spend three years on probation upon his release from prison.

A source with the Federal Bureau of Investigation attended a party at Johnston's home last April. While at the party, the source said he observed behavior consistent with the use of illegal drugs. The source traveled to Johnston's residence in July. Through monitored and recorded calls before the meeting, the source agreed to deliver 75 MDMA pills to Johnston. MDMA is a purified form of the club drug Ecstasy.

The exchange of money and MDMA took place in the kitchen of the residence, with Johnston receiving approximately 9.9 grams of MDMA, in the form of 37 pills, and 6.3 grams of powder MDMA. Johnston paid the source $1,300 for the drugs.

Littleton Police Department Chief Doug Stephens lamented the impact of drugs on a respected member of the department.

"Jeff was a good officer who dedicated twenty years to the Littleton community,” Stephens said. “His private life choices have cost him greatly and should serve as an example of how drugs ruin lives."